British Columbia health officials on Wednesday reported 500 new cases of COVID-19, including 32 new cases Island Health, since their last update on Jan. 19.
Officials also reported an additional 14 deaths in the past 24 hours. None of the new deaths were on Vancouver Island, a spokesperson for Island Health told CHEK News.
The number of confirmed cases in B.C. 62,412 while the province’s death toll is now 1,104.
Of the new cases, 125 were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 216 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 32 in the Island Health region, 91 in the Interior Health region, 35 in the Northern Health region. There was one new case identified in an individual who does not normally reside in Canada.
There are currently 4,345 active cases in the province, 320 people in hospital — 66 of whom are in intensive care — and 6,905 people under active public health monitoring due to possible exposure to an identified case.
A total of 55,564 people in B.C. have recovered from COVID-19 while 98,125 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered province-wide.
In a statement released to the media, officials said while cases are high, the COVID-19 curve is “trending in the right direction.”
Island Health
Once again, there is a discrepancy between the province’s data and Island Health’s data.
According to Island Health, there were 22 new cases of COVID-19 reported on Vancouver Island in the past 24 hours, not 32 as reported by the province.
There there are currently 177 active cases on Vancouver Island, a decrease of 10 cases since the province’s last update on Jan. 19. Of the active cases, 22 are on the south Island, 132 are on the central Island and 23 are on the north Island.
Over the course of the pandemic, a total of 1,328 cases of the virus have been reported in Island Health.
Southern Vancouver Island includes the Greater Victoria region, Southern Gulf Islands and the Port Renfrew area.
Central Vancouver Island includes the Cowichan Valley, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Port Alberni and Tofino areas.
Northern Vancouver Island goes from the Comox Valley to Port Hardy but also includes surrounding areas like Alert Bay and Sointula.
National landscape
According to Health Canada’s website, there have been 725,495 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 18,462 deaths nationwide.
Of those cases, roughly 13,800 are on First Nations reserves.
British Columbia, meanwhile, has one of the lowest rates of testing anywhere in Canada.
Nicholas Pescod
